Troy friend killed in Afghanistan

Warrent Officer Dennis Raymond Brown, far left, marches with the Canadian military during a recent Veterans of Lansingburgh Memorial Day Parade. (Photo submitted)

TROY - Warrant Officer Dennis Raymond Brown may have been a Canadian serving in that country's military, but he and his regiment were no strangers to Troy.

Members of the Lincoln & Welland regiment of the Canadian Army Reserves, based in St. Catharine's, Ontario, represented their country's armed forces in the Veterans of Lansingburgh's annual Memorial Day parade. Brown himself made the trip to Troy to march in the parade every year but one since 1995, said club President P.J. Higgitt Jr.

That dedication made Brown a lifetime member of the Veterans of Lansingburgh, where Higgitt said he was well-liked among members.

Brown, 38, was killed on March 3 in combat northwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Two other Canadian soldiers were killed and another two sustained injuries when their patrol struck a roadside bomb after being sent to successfully diffuse another such device. The Taliban quickly took responsibility for the bomb.

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"He was always a happy-go-lucky individual, always had a smile on his face," Higgitt said. "When they'd come down, he'd spend all his time at the club, socializing with all the members."

Brown's deployment was scheduled to end in just a few weeks, Higgitt said. Brown was to return to his wife Mishelle and four children.

At an honorary ceremony in Brown's hometown of St. Catharine's Friday that drew thousands, Mishelle Brown said her husband's death was something she had braced herself for.

"Dennis and I talked about this often," she said, according to a March 7 story by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "I was expecting this. I was prepared for it."

In civilian life, Brown was a special police constable with the Niagara Regional Police Services. He had served in the Canadian military for about 20 years, Higgitt believed.

Higgitt said he and a few members of the veteran's club--which has some 800 members -- plan to make the trip to Canada for Brown's funeral services.